Fabio Weik's Salerno exhibition uses gold and silver to explore migration

Fabio Weik (born 1984 in Milan) presents 'Gold Track' at Galleria Paola Verrengia in Salerno, a show that reworks Dutch cartouches depicting river myths and sea deities. Weik meticulously redrew damaged or small images from these historical documents using a graphics tablet, vectorizing them. The resulting golden screens feature figures like Perseus, Neptune, and Hermes in the 'Ermeneutica' series. Three silver boats titled 'Argo#1', 'Argo#2', and 'Argo#3' (2019) are mounted on pedestals, crowded with tiny plastic human figures handmade by the artist, some appearing to leap into the sea. A video 'IL MIO' (2020) features Balla Coulibaly, a Malian survivor of a Mediterranean crossing, whose testimony shatters the illusion of wealth. The gold and silver surfaces are revealed to be emergency thermal blankets made of polyester film—gold side for cold, silver for heat—used for refugees and migrants. Another video 'Oltre Balla!' (2020) with sound by Boss Doms shows Coulibaly swallowing and expelling a square of the blanket, reinforcing the critique. A still from the video, 'Balla #4' (2020), is also on view. The exhibition runs at Galleria Paola Verrengia in Salerno.